Britain's richest men and women must curb their greed and begin sharing their wealth to save their souls, one of the Church of England’s senior bishops has warned.
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, singled out high-earning City traders such as hedge fund managers as the kind of people who must swap their desire to “make a quick buck” for a commitment to “share their wealth generously”.
He said the crisis gripping the world’s money markets was “almost certainly” due to amoral forces pursuing their own wealth-creating agenda and warned that without action the less wealthy might suffer disproportionately from the fallout.
“From possessiveness we need to move to gratitude for what we have, from ‘cutting corners’ to make a quick buck to that integrity for which business in this country was celebrated, and from mere accumulation of wealth to a generosity of spirit. When that happens, hedge fund managers and directors of companies can, indeed, go into the kingdom of heaven ahead of the chief priests and elders.”
He expressed fears that the gulf between the rich and poor, which he describes as already “one of the great disparities of our age”, could be widened further by the recent plunge in stock market prices and the collapse of two banks.
“Even in a market of amoral forces, we should never forget that we are moral agents and responsible for our actions . The current turmoil in the markets is almost certainly the result of such forces but those with power need to ensure that the poor are not disproportionately affected.”
"What is required is a change of heart, of disposition, of attitude,” the Bishop of Rochester writes in his Easter message .
Nope . What is required is a political and social revolution , not pious words of a sky-pilot
2 comments:
Fine words indeed, but if one was feeling ungenerous and curmudgeonly, how do you get from the here and now to the socialist society of tomorrow? I'm afraid to say that over the years I've seen your tendency out and about, its modus operandi doesn't differ significantly from the clergymen you criticise here.
Btw, happy easter ;)
I think we all find ourselves preaching to the converted these days , it seems , and i do mean all of us , sad to say .
But , of course , the SPGB has always emphasised the propagadist and educational part of politics but if you ever watched Scotch On Wry with Rikki Fulton doing his Reverend I.M.Jolly , there is more a touch of him at the moment within the SPGB - doom and gloom - rather than the ever rosy view of others on the Left that there is THE Revolution in every strike or demonstration ..its just round the corner ...just one more push and paper sell , comrades.
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